What It Means To Be Righteous
Foundation Statement: Righteousness permits us
to stand in the Father’s presence without the sense of guilt or condemnation
and gives us the ability to stand in the presence of Satan without sense of
inferiority
I. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21-You’ve
been made the righteousness of God
A.
The old spiritual condition has passed away
1. That unrighteous sinner condition is gone forever
B.
This new condition that we find ourselves in
is unprecedented
1. It’s unprecedented that a man who as sinned can be made new and stand
before God as though sin never existed
C.
We’ve been brought back into union and
friendship with Him
D.
He’s not counting up our trespasses and sin,
but rather cancelled them
E.
This is why you can be reconciled: because he
to be sin for us so that we could be MADE the righteousness of God in him
1. You can be reconciled unto him because you can be made right with Him
2. You don’t become righteous; when you got saved you were made righteous
II. What does it means to be the
righteousness of God?
A.
Innocent, faultless, guiltless
1. Innocent-Free
from guilt; not having done wrong or violated any law; not tainted with sin;
pure; upright
a.
In God’s eyes because of the blood and what’s
it’s done you’ve done no wrong
2. Faultless-Without
fault; free from blemish; free from incorrectness; Free from imperfection;
perfect
a.
In
God’s eyes because of the blood and what’s it’s done you are perfect
3. Guilt-That
state of a person that comes from him committing a crime knowing it to be a
crime. To constitute guilt there must be a moral agent enjoying freedom of
will, and capable of distinguishing between right and wrong and a willful
violation of a known law. The guilt of a person exists, as soon as the crime is
committed; but to evince it to others, it must be proved by confession, or
conviction in due course of law. Guilt renders a person a debtor to the law, as
it binds him to pay a penalty in money or suffering. Guilt implies liableness
to punishment.
a.
The penalty for your sin has already been
paid; you owe nothing (Rom 4:24-25)
b.
You don’t confess your sin to the enemy; when
he accuses you of sin you say I’m innocent and b/c of the blood Satan can’t
prove before The Judge that I ever sinned; God says this charge is false, this
man didn’t do this nor has he ever sinned
c.
Where there is no violation of the law, there
is no grounds for guilt; Through the blood of Jesus the violation of the law is
destroyed and therefore there is no grounds for guilt (You don’t feel guilty
for doing something that you didn’t do)
B.
To be declared righteous-A just person has
been declared righteous
1. Justification is the act of God removing from the sinner, his guilt and
the penalty incurred by that guilt, and bestowing a positive righteousness,
Christ Jesus Himself in whom the believer stands, not only innocent and uncondemned,
but actually righteous in the point of law for time and for eternity
a.
You’re not just free from the guilt, but in
the eyes of God you are righteous
2. Esther 4:11, Hebrews 1:8-God has declared you righteous
a.
Faith agrees with that even when it’s being bombarded
with feelings of guilt
C.
Approved of or accepted of God; the condition
acceptable to God
1. You have to be clean and holy to approach God because anything that is
unclean or unholy is destroyed in His presence; the blood Jesus makes you
acceptable
a.
State of him who is as he ought to
be-condition acceptable to God
2. You are everything that you need to be to approach God
a.
The man who trusts in Christ becomes the
righteousness of God; he becomes in Christ all that God requires a man to be,
all that he could never be in himself
b.
God has accepted him as one who fulfilled the
whole of his requirements
1) You are right with Jesus’ righteousness and he did no wrong
3. A gift whereby all who believe are brought into right relationship with
God-Rom 5:16
D.
Of whatever is right or just in itself,
whatever conforms to the revealed will of God (“whatever” would include your
spirit, soul, body, relationships, and finances)
1. Because of the blood of Jesus you have rights to be right in every area
of your life
a.
Ephesians 2:12,19 AMP, Luke 13:16-There are
rights that come with being righteous
1) Isaiah 5:23 (AMP)-But take away the rights of
the innocent and righteous from them!
b.
Jesus paid for your redemption and gave it to
us a free gift, you may not have earned it or worked for it, but it doesn’t
make it any less yours
2. Grace rights are rights have not been earned and may not be deserved,
but nonetheless they are rights you have obtained and they are your rights
a.
EX: You may not deserve to be free, but you
got a right to freedom
E.
What is right
1. The condition of rightness which shows itself in behavior conformable to
God, and has to do above all things with its relation to God, and with the walk
before him
a.
A person whose way of thinking, feeling,
& acting is conformed to the will of God
2. The character or quality of being right or just; The quality of being
right will lead to right character; A righteous person does right things